Factors associated with time-to-treatment initiation of breast cancer

Abstract

The present retrospective study investigated factors associated with time-to-treatment initiation of breast cancer of a cohort of 12,100 cases of health facilities qualified for high complexity in oncology within the scope of the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) of Rio de Janeiro between 2013 and 2019. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Of all cases, 82.1% were submitted to the first treatment >60 days. Patients without previous diagnosis history, higher education and in stages III and IV were less likely to have their first treatment >60 days, while treatment at a health facility outside the capital showed a higher probability. Patients with a previous diagnosis history, aged ≥50, non-white race/skin color and in stage I were more likely to be submitted to their first treatment >60 days, while subjects with higher education, treated in a health facility outside the capital and in stage IV showed a lower probability. To summarize, sociodemographic, clinical and health facility-related factors are associated with time-to-treatment initiation of breast cancer.

Factors influencing the time to diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer among women in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review

“…Following further exclusions ( Fig. 1 ), 21 studies [ [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] ] were eligible for inclusion in the review. The reference lists of these studies were then searched but no additional relevant studies were found.…”

“…Table 2 presents the characteristics of the included studies. The majority (12) of studies [ [15] , [16] , [17] , 19 , 21 , 22 , 24 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 34 ] were cross-sectional, four were retrospective cross-sectional [ 18 , 25 , 32 , 35 ], four were prospective cohort [ 20 , 26 , 27 , 30 ] and one study was a before and after intervention study [ 23 ]. The duration of these studies varied from four months up to eight years, while two studies did not clearly mention the study duration.…”

“…The duration of these studies varied from four months up to eight years, while two studies did not clearly mention the study duration. Just over half (12) of the studies [ [15] , [16] , [17] , 20 , 24 , 25 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 31 , 34 , 35 ] were conducted in urban settings, while six studies [ 19 , 21 , 22 , 30 , 32 , 33 ] were conducted in both urban and rural areas, two [ 18 , 29 ] were in rural areas. For one study [ 23 ], the setting was not clearly reported.…”

“…The data collection was primarily through reviewing medical records and patient interviews. The majority (66.7%) of the studies [ [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , 26 , [30] , [31] , [32] , 34 ] recorded the mean age of the participants, ranging from 40 to 58 years, four studies [ [27] , [28] , [29] , 34 ] provided the median age, ranging from 49 to 56 years, while four studies [ 24 , 25 , 33 , 35 ] reported only age categories of the participants.…”

“…A few studies did not present some of the major findings, such as two studies did not provide the median time interval [ 33 , 35 ] and only gave the proportion of cases with delay. Another study [ 32 ] reported the median interval according to year. It failed to report the combined median interval of all BC cases.…”